Dr Syam Viswanath, during his two-and-a-half-decade-long research career at ICFRE, has been active in agroforestry and conservation research with more than 140 publications to his credit. His primary focus has been on Traditional Agroforestry Systems (TAFS) in rain-fed regions in India. He has made significant contributions to promoting Sandalwood-based AF practices across India through several research projects funded by NMPB-Govt. of India, various research publications, and as Course coordinator of the one-week Sandalwood promotion and cultivation training programme from 2008 till 2018 at IWST Bangalore.

In recognition of his expertise and publications on sandalwood, he was nominated as a member of the Sandalwood development committee under the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, NITI Aayog, Govt. of India in 2021.

He was honoured with the Dr KG Tejwani Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to Agroforestry research and development in 2021 by the Indian Society of Agroforestry (ISAF) based in ICAR-CAFRI, Jhansi.

Dr. Syam Viswanath has completed 20 externally aided research projects and 6 internal projects while in ICFRE. Has mentored 25 students to PhD, of which at least 15 are in Agroforestry. He has completed several international and national assignments as a Consultant for UNIDO on bamboo. He has been a Guest Faculty at Azim Premji University, Bangalore, since 2015 and regularly conducts an open Course on Bamboo for a full semester for Postgraduate students. He is also a Courtesy Professor in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (SFRC), University of Florida, Gainesville, since 2015, besides being a recognised guide for PhD at Calicut University, CUSAT Cochin, FRI University, Dehra Dun and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He has been deputed for five years as Director of Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, since June 2018. Under his leadership, KFRI was selected as the Best Performing Institute of KSCSTE for 2021 and an award bestowed in a special ceremony by the Hon, CM of Kerala, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan.

After 5yrs 3 month tenure in KFRI he joined his parent cadre on 21st Sept 2023 in ICFRE- IFGTB Coimbatore where he superannuated in 31st Dec 2023. Dr. Syam Viswanath is an Advisory member of the National Bamboo Mission, Govt. of India, and an Executive council member of Asia Pacific Forestry Research Institutes (APAFRI) based in Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) for two consecutive periods in 2018-2021 and 2021-2023, Program Advisory Committee (PAC) member of DST, Govt. of India for SC/SP schemes of SEED division since 2019. He is a Reviewer for International Journals such as Agroforestry Systems, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Journal of Bamboo and Rattan.

Susanth C.S. is a faculty in the Industrial Design discipline. He graduated from NID in 1998 in Industrial Design; he specialised in Furniture Design. He started his career with NID’s Outreach Programmes and Consultancy Services in 1998 and joined as faculty member in the Furniture and Interior Design discipline in 2002.

Susanth has worked on many projects in the areas of school furniture, coir composite furniture, bamboo products, and with various craft clusters in different parts of India. One of his core areas of interest is bamboo and its applications. He also heads the NID Centre for Bamboo Initiatives. He teaches in various disciplines, especially Design for Retail Experience and Furniture Design. He takes courses such as Design Representation, Retail Furniture and Fixture, System Design, Packaging, Materials and Process, and Model Making.

He has participated in various national and international programmes such as the India Show in Ethiopia in May 2011 and AOTS-ENAI programme in Japan. He was an advisor at the International Design Workshop at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan and had participated at the toy design workshop held at London in November 2010 and October 2011.

Rajeev Wind uses reed bamboo found in Idukki, Kerala, to create everything from an amplifier that doesn’t need charging to chimes and lamps.

Growing up in the hills of Idukki in Kerala, he watched his grandmother weave bamboo baskets for a living while his parents worked as farmers. He studied for a diploma in telecommunications at a polytechnic in Malappuram but couldn’t get a job. “That’s when I started working with natural fibre, to make ends meet,” he says. “Bamboo was a given because in Idukki, it’s abundant; the forest is teeming with it.” Today, he describes reed, the bamboo he works with, as magical.

He began by making wind chimes in the early 2000s. “Growing up in Idukki, I would watch the river Periyar flowing through the forest,” Wind says. “I wanted to recreate the beauty of nature through sound and so chose to make wind chimes.” It takes him 10 days to fine-tune one to produce the sounds of the tropics, forest, streams, rivers, or mountains. “There are no nuts and bolts, and very few fixings and tweaks,” he says. It’s almost a form-finding process. “It’s about letting the bamboo do what it wants to; let nature take its course”.